Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Aeon Co., the biggest retailer in
Japan, said an executive is under investigation by the country’s
financial watchdog over whether he made an “improper” stock
transaction.

Hidehiro Hirabayashi, chief executive officer of Aeon’s
drugstore and pharmacy business, is being probed by the
Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission and has offered
to quit the company, the retailer said in a statement to Tokyo’s
stock exchange yesterday.

Aeon, based in Chiba near Tokyo, became aware of the matter
when the executive told the company about his involvement on
Feb. 18, the same day Aeon started an internal hearing about the
case, Satoshi Otsuka, an Aeon spokesman, said by phone
yesterday, without disclosing further details.

Hirabayashi, who’s also an Aeon’s vice president, has been
suspended from his executive post and the company will wait for
the result of the SESC probe before deciding on his future with
the company.

Keiji Koide, an official with the SESC, said the commission
doesn’t comment on specific cases.